Effectiveness of Plantar Fascial Mobilization and Static Stretching on Hamstrings Flexibility among Overweight Individuals

Background: Hamstrings tightness is commonly found among obese individuals and athletes. Many factors can result in hamstrings tightness such as overuse, bad posture and sports activities. It can result in major muscle imbalance which can predispose a person to muscle injuries. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of plantar fascial mobilization and static stretching on hamstrings flexibility in overweight individuals. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted at the Physiotherapy department of Shalamar Hospital, Lahore for 6 months. About 50 participants were selected after meeting the eligibility criteria through non-probability purposive sampling. Participants were divided into two equal groups, Group A received static stretching of the hamstrings and Group B received plantar fascial mobilization for three consecutive days. Pre and post-treatment readings of the numeric pain rating scale and active knee extension were recorded in this study. Overweight individuals with having body mass index between 25 to 30 and age ranging from 18 to 35 years presented with hamstring tightness (at least 20 degrees of active knee extension were included in this study). Patients were excluded if they showed any red flags such as rheumatoid arthritis, fracture, tumor, osteoporosis, history of steroid use, lower limb injuries or surgery. The normality of data was assessed through the Shapiro-Wilk test. The difference between pre and post-treatment readings was calculated using paired sample t-test for this parametric data.  Independent sample t-test was estimated for finding difference between groups. Results: Patients presented in both groups had an age between 18 and 50 with a mean age of 38.56+9.243. Data were analyzed through independent sample t-tests and paired sample t-tests. The results showed that plantar fascial mobilization along with static stretching was superior in improving hamstring flexibility (83.20+1.65) and reducing pain (1.96+1.48) than static stretching alone in improving hamstring flexibility (76.40+0.02) and in reducing pain (3.45+1.45). Conclusion: It concludes that both the treatment techniques, plantar facial mobilization and static stretching were effective in improving hamstring flexibility by increasing active knee extension and decreasing pain intensity however plantar fascial mobilization along with static stretching was superior to static stretching alone in improving the hamstring flexibility in overweight individuals.